Undateable is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from May 29, 2014, to January 29, 2016, and originally premiered as a mid-season replacement. The series was created by Adam Sztykiel, based on the book Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating or Having Sex by Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle. In the show, bachelor Danny Burton has trouble getting into a relationship with various women he meets. On May 8, 2015, NBC renewed Undateable for a third season that consisted entirely of live episodes, which premiered on October 9, 2015. On May 13, 2016, NBC canceled the series after three seasons.
Premise
Danny Burton is a 34-year-old carefree single guy who has watched most of his friends move on to serious relationships. When his last remaining single friend, Shannon, moves out to marry, Danny searches for a new roommate. A promising candidate is Justin, the owner of Black Eyes Bar (frequently mispronounced "Black Guys Bar") in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. Justin and his friends—the creepy Burski, oddball Shelly, and recently out-of-the-closet Brett—all have certain qualities that make them appear "undateable". While Danny himself has good luck getting women into bed, he is unable or unwilling to form a lasting commitment with any of them. Danny's older sister, Leslie, has similar fears about being undateable, having the "baggage" of being a mid-30s divorcee.
Cast
Main
Chris D'Elia as Danny Burton, a womanizer
Brent Morin as Justin Kearney, Danny's roommate who is a bar owner and is awkward with women Bianca Kajlich as Leslie Burton, Danny's recently divorced and alcoholic sister David Fynn as Brett, Justin's gay co-worker and friend Rick Glassman as Adam Burski, Justin's nerdy friend who has a crush on Leslie Ron Funches as Shelly, Justin's oddball friend who moves into the upstairs loft at the bar Bridgit Mendler as Candace (Season 2–3), Justin's eccentric new bartender and later fiancée; she often scares the gang with bizarre stories from her childhood, living in cars and eating paper – but always delivers these tales with a strange optimism
Recurring
Briga Heelan as Nicki, Justin's ex-girlfriend (Season 1; guest in Season 2) Eva Amurri as Sabrina, Danny's ex-girlfriend and Justin's new employee (Season 1) Adam Hagenbuch as Trent, Candace's ex-boyfriend who wants her back, making him Justin's rival (Season 2–3) Whitney Cummings as Charlotte, Justin's friend from school whom he sets up with Danny (Season 3)
Guest
Tom Cavanagh as Frank, Justin's father
Josh Hopkins as Julius, Leslie's ex-husband
Ed Sheeran as himself
Victoria Justice as Amanda
Rene Gube as Parker, Nicki's new boyfriend
Zach Braff as Zach, Shelly's co-worker
Donald Faison as Donald, Shelly's co-worker
Christa Miller as Allie (Season 2), a customer
Christa Miller as Jackie (Season 3), the woman to whom Danny lost his virginity
Minnie Driver as Minnie, Allie's friend
Rory Scovel as Kevin, Justin's and Danny's annoying neighbor
Neil Flynn as Neil, a customer
Drew Pinsky as himself
Mike Catherwood as Mike, a customer who later becomes Leslie's boyfriend
Kate Walsh as Kate, Allie's friend
Scott Foley as "TV's Scott Foley", an exaggerated version of himself
Sarah Chalke as herself
Meghan Trainor as Meghan, a customer
Robert Maschio as Todd
Production
Development and casting
NBC purchased the script from Bill Lawrence in October 2012. Casting for the pilot began in early 2013, with Brent Morin and Rick Glassman being cast in February and Bianca Kajlich and Chris D'Elia being cast in March. Matthew Wilkas was also cast in March as Brett, Justin's gay friend. Aly Michalka was originally cast as Maddie, a waitress in Justin's bar and Justin's love interest, but she left the show in April 2013 and was replaced with Briga Heelan in a guest star role as the similar character Nicki.
Filming
In May 2013, NBC placed a series order for Undateable. After the series was ordered, Wilkas left and was replaced with David Fynn in the role of Brett. When both Undateable and Ground Floor, which stars Heelan, were picked up as series, Megan Park was cast to replace Heelan in the Nicki role. However, by September of that year, the producers were able to arrange the schedules of the two shows so that Heelan could appear on Undateable as Nicki on a recurring basis, and she replaced Park.
In March 2014, Lawrence, Morin, Glassman, Funches, and D'Elia launched an 8-city comedy tour to promote the show.